Roma

            We have been extremely busy in Rome.  We’ve been getting up early every morning and staying out till late.  After waking up on Friday morning, one of Sam’s friends took us to see four of the basilicas, but first things first.  We needed some breakfast.  He took us to this pastry shop where eighteen pastries was just over five euros.  There is nothing like starting the day with cheap pastries in Rome.  We then saw St. Peter’s.  The line to get into the Vatican was intimidating at first, but it moved quickly.  Waiting in line was more like taking a leisurely stroll.  Entering St. Peter’s, I was in awe.  There was just too much too see in the short amount of time I had to see it.  Thankfully, I did get to see everything, and walk through the tombs.  The whole church was very impressive and beautiful.  From there, we went to St. Mary’s, St. John’s, and St. Paul’s outside the walls.  In St. John’s I was surprised to see that someone had thrown a one thousand dollar bill into St. John’s burial place.  Now that’s faith!  St. Paul’s was also really cool.  It had a picture of every pope around the wall, and I think it was St. John’s that had a statues for each apostle.  We finished off the day with a traditional Italian five course meal.  I barely made it through one.  Going out to dinner in Italy is not just a meal.  It is an event.  They usually don’t start eating until nine!

            The next day, we woke up, went to same pasty shop, and climb up St. Peter’s Cupola.  It was our exercise for the weekend.  From the top, we could see all around the Vatican and all over Rome.  We then went into the Vatican museum.  The Vatican museum had everything you could imagine.  There was even a museum inside dedicated to stamps, and another one dedicated to maps.  My favorite parts though were the Sistine Chapel and the rooms that led up to it.  I was amazed by Raphael’s work in the Stanze di Raphaello, rooms of Raphael.  He had talent.  Pictures of the Sistine Chapel don’t do it justice.  It amazes me that only one man painted everything.  My neck still hurts from looking at the ceiling for thirty minutes straight.  I can also still hear the guard saying, “Silence please” and shushing much louder than anybody was talking.  We spent most of the day in the Vatican.  We had lunch there, and we had walked about five miles without sitting looking at all the amazing collections.  Afterward, I took a much needed nap.  For dinner that night, I actually made it through more than one course.  I ate the bread appetizer.  By the way, the bread was delicious! I then ate my premi, and then my secondi.  I then finished every one else’s plate, washed it down with some delicious white wine followed by the best tiramisu I have ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth. 

            On Sunday, we headed straight to the Coliseum.  I may or may not have dropped (accidently of course) my water bottle in the middle, where I would have been kicked out and probably arrested if I chased after it.  For the record, I felt bad for littering.  From the Coliseum, we went to the Forums to see the ruins and explore the old market place.  There was a flipbook in the Coliseum showing the ruins and what they would have looked like during the Roman Empire.  It was cool to see just that.  Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat at Pastamor. It was hands down the worst Italian food I have ever had.  Yes, even worse than the Common’s pasta on campus.  Thankfully we washed it down with the best gelato I have ever had.  Anyway, after eating whatever that meal was, we took a short walk to the Pantheon.  The pantheon was magnificent.  I found the curvature of the floor pretty cool.  They designed it to drain water from rainfall.  A couple of us went into an official wine store on our way back from the pantheon, and we did some wine tasting.  Needless to say, I felt classy. 

            We had another Italian meal that night, and since I had been wanting some lasagna, I ordered some.  It was heavenly.  I have never and probably will never have lasagna that good again.  Even Garfield, being a lasagna connoisseur, probably never had lasagna that tasty.  Then for my secondi, I had some chicken cognac, also delicious.  We are off to Berlin in the morning, and I am not ready for it to be my last week.  On one hand, I feel like we just got here, and on the other, I feel like Rainer’s tour around Bonn was a year ago.  Either way, I am still not ready to go home.